OK so the map is almost entirely blue and the spot that aren't are probably void of people. Such as abandoned factories and neighborhoods from the
crappy economy in Chicago. The north side it looks like only a small block hasn't had any shootings and the south side it looks like a big area void
of housing like a commercial zoned area where factories are. There is no safe area of Chicago.

OK so the map is almost entirely blue and the spot that aren't are probably void of people. Such as abandoned factories and neighborhoods from the
crappy economy in Chicago. The north side it looks like only a small block hasn't had any shootings and the south side it looks like a big area void
of housing like a commercial zoned area where factories are. There is no safe area of Chicago.

Well I work in Chicago every day, lived in the city for 7 years, and lived in the greater Chicago area all my life, so I suppose I would know. Trust
me, there are very safe areas in the city, the northwest and southwest side is where all the cops, teachers, firemen, etc. live, and there's
practically no crime there. Most of the north side is hipster and yuppie, no crime there except right along the lake as that's where the trains run
and where the riff-raff hangs out. Downtown is entirely safe as well. Even the ethnic neighborhoods are pretty safe, it's only...let's be totally
honest here, the black neighborhoods that are hellholes.

Watch the video in the link below from a week or two ago. Maybe this is one small part of why these neighborhoods are a nightmare - it's because the
people who live in them are nightmares.

That's actually a GREAT question, Chicago has one of the most widespread lead pipe systems in the country. Last I read, 80% of Chicago homes were
hooked up to lead water service lines. I think this is because Chicago has one of the oldest plumbing systems in the country thanks to the rebuild
after the 1872 Chicago Fire.

Very interesting point that I hadn't considered before, maybe there is literally something in the water here that's making people act crazy!

Till we face the fact that some people are just plain incorrigible, nothing can be done. They have no sense of value for life, not even their
pathetic own. And we deal with them year after year after year to no avail. They are like a big pus filled boil that just festers and grows till it
infects a whole community.

If things continue, it will spread to the areas that are currently considered safe.

It would seem hard to not believe that would happen if there is no consequence. Gangs are about territory and they are a big part of the
problem.

Yes, territory, distribution of drugs for money, and initiation of new members who have to usually commit an act of violence to prove they are worthy
of membership.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Latin Kings of Chicago spend a few minutes at youtube.youtu.be... is another very strong
violent gang. youtu.be... True poverty plays a big role... especially when young bucks have drug pushers who only have money to
look up to....

I wonder how much of this has to do with heroin being flooded into the area. Here in the Detroit area it's rampant and every wehre. I'm not talking
about the inner city it's in the suburbs at white schools. My cousins high school is in a upper class area and it was nicknamed heroin high.

The great lakes states are a major hub for heroin distribution because of the shipping industry. People don't shoot other people watering their lawns
and go through their pockets for no reason. They're probably looking for money to get a fix. The cartels have upped their heroin production since
loosing marijuana business to medical and legal weed. They've also learned how to refine heroin like the Afghans do to make it more potent.

I have a feeling this is a result of the heroin trade. But no ones acknowledging it or talking about it. Kinda feels like they're sweeping the real
issue under the rug.

If things continue, it will spread to the areas that are currently considered safe.

It would seem hard to not believe that would happen if there is no consequence. Gangs are about territory and they are a big part of the
problem.

Yes, territory, distribution of drugs for money, and initiation of new members who have to usually commit an act of violence to prove they are worthy
of membership.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Latin Kings of Chicago spend a few minutes at youtube.youtu.be... is another very strong
violent gang. youtu.be... True poverty plays a big role... especially when young bucks have drug pushers who only have money to
look up to....

These big gangs are old news and not really even in business anymore, at least in my understanding. Part of the issue is that Chicago PD cracked down
on the bigtime gangs a few years ago and broke them all up, and what's taken their place are hundreds of leaderless packs of kids that each own their
one little block, and they all fight with each other. So in the past, you lived in Englewood, it was all or mostly run by one gang so as long as you
were cool with the guys in that gang you were good to go. But now if you have to walk a half mile to school, you might go through 4 or 5 different
gang territories since each block is now run by a different group. This fracturing of the big gangs into hundreds of tiny ones is part of the problem
here.

Here's a link to learn more about what happened with the gang fracturing:

Its not the city of "Chicago" any more than it is the state of "Illinois" or the whole "United States". This wave of endless violence comes from a
small segment of the population. Which is what makes it so mind boggling when you think about it. If it was interspersed throughout the entire city
and it could be anyone doing it, I can see where it might be difficult to figure out who is committing the crimes and how to stop them. But when it is
a relatively small segment of the population, and most importantly - they identify themselves with clothing or tattoos or whatever their particular
choice is, its hard imagine how they can go unchecked for so long.

Of course, I am talking about gangs. The worst of which is the democrats. If I had to pick one group of people who are responsible for the most
suffering in Chicago, it would be the democrats. Not the gangs. Not the police. Not whitey. Democrats. They have been running this city, and the other
ten to fifteen cities in this country with the worst violent crime, for decades. It is no coincidence.

The town where I live has been on a crusade to relocate inner city "refugees", as they are called, to the suburbs to give them hope for a brighter
future. They live in subsidized housing, get free cable and cell phones, and who knows what else. Since this program has started we have had a steady
increase in violent crime, break ins, and car theft. Today we had our first smash-and-grab type theft of a local retailer.

Today my neighbor, an 84 year old woman, was walking her dog when I saw two unfamiliar black men walking toward her. She was obviously hesitant and
intimidated but remained calm. I chose that moment to clean my shotgun in my garage and decided a little fresh air would be nice. As the door slowly
raised I saw the two men stop and talk to my neighbor. I stood the 12 gage up by the side of the door and yelled to my neighbor asking her who her two
friends were. The men decided to leave for some reason. They never saw the 12 gage, the .357 in the small of my back, or the 9mm on my hip. My AR was
also very near by. Had they hurt her it would have ended badly for them.

This is my neighborhood. That is my neighbor. It happened in front of my house. And I can clean my guns any time I want to. On the other side of the
street I saw another neighbor wave from a window right behind where the conversation took place. He was watching too. I waved and smiled at him. He
waved and smiled back. My neighbor and her dog made it home safely. This was at 4:30 in the afternoon. I asked her what the men wanted. I hoped it was
directions or something like that. They asked her where she lived. She didn't answer them. Good for her. The authorities have been informed and
descriptions provided.

The gangs in Chicago have not broken up. If anything they are bigger than they have ever been. The latin kings are very active in certain areas. Don't
believe me? Go down town some night and shout their name along with a few insults. You will find out very quickly how wrong you are.

The gangs in Chicago have not broken up. If anything they are bigger than they have ever been. The latin kings are very active in certain areas. Don't
believe me? Go down town some night and shout their name along with a few insults. You will find out very quickly how wrong you are.

It's true that the Hispanic gangs are still pretty well organized, but the black gangs are completely leaderless, and that's where most of the
violence is coming from, not the Hispanic gangs. 75% of the gun crime in Chicago is committed by blacks, under 20% is by Hispanics, so clearly the
Latin Kings are not the source of this violence surge.

I've lived in Chicago for almost 20 years now. Chicago is a beautiful world class city. It really is only second to NYC and to be honest, Chicago is
a much more livable city than NYC since it is no where near as expensive, crowded, and dirty. We have the lakefront, world class museums, two of the
best universities in the world (Northwestern & U of Chicago), home to dozens of f500 companies, great food, etc.

All the crime you hear in the media largely takes place on the south and west sides of the city. The neighborhoods are about 10 miles from downtown
Chicago. The violence is literally contained to relatively small areas of the city. With that said, these neighborhoods in some respects are like
third world # holes.

There is no reason anyone would be in these areas unless you were unfortunate enough to 1) live there or 2) you are a dope fiend.

What is always glossed over in this discussion is how this is largely a poor black neighborhood problem. These areas have literally failed culturally
and socially.

The violence is largely perpetrated by young black males and to a lesser degree, hispanics. The biggest issue is the lack of fathers. You literally
have entire neighborhoods with feral young men with nothing to do except get involved in the street life.

Chicago is somewhat unique in the sense that there is a huge gang culture unlike any other city which drive a lot of the violence. However, Chicago
isn't unique in that you see the same violence anywhere you have poor blacks in any significant number even in smaller cities. On a per capita basis,
cities like Baton Rouge, St. Louis, Detroit, etc are more violent than Chicago. The demographics are the same though. Young black men.

Until the black community and progressives are willing to have a frank and honest discussion,solutions to this crisis will be fleeting at best.

I'm extremely proud of my black American heritage. However, anyone who is objectively looking at this issue has to acknowledge to complete and utter
failure of the black community socially and culturally over the past 50 years. The celebration of ignorance and thug life has been detrimental beyond
all repair.

Now, after contemplating that list of U.S cities and comparing crime per capita with other first world nation countries and their cities, you might
come to understand that what is going on in Chicago does indeed represent all of America.

Then, go and look at how many cities there are in America, and realize that large urban areas with high murder and crime rates are NOT
representational of the average American city.

Yes, large urban sprawls produce the vast majority of our murders and gun violence, among other types of crimes (drugs being a major one), but again,
large urban cities are not the average American city.

You're not comparing apples to apples, here, just as you're not when you compare our American culture to either that of non-first-world countries or
European nations.

Just because you've traveled here numerous times doesn't mean that you understand America or Americans. See, I'm not making my comment in regards to a
global perspective, I'm making my comment based on reality. That's what matters, not making false comparison because you've visited here a lot and are
looking at our country from the outside in--that barely gives you a foundation upon which to make your claims.

Disagree with me all that you want, but until you've lived in America for over 35 years in more than six different cities of varying sizes in three
different states in two vastly different regions of the country, don't preach to me about what the average American city is or is not just because
your global perspective skews your view average America.

You're patriotic and you have every right to be. America has given the world a lot of wonderful things, but don't allow that patriotism to blind you
concerning the nature of this particular topic. Just to be clear; I personally see *most* Americans as being very kindhearted, caring, sophisticated,
peaceful and intelligent people. I have many friends in America. And they are well aware of my views...

American society *overall*, when violent crime and murder is weighed per capita (per 100 000 people,) is not considered very peaceful when
compared to other first world nation societies when weighed per capita (per 100 000 people).This doesn't mean there isn't low crime cities in
America that exist. There are many safe cities in America.

However, the safest cities in America tend to have an average population around 250 000 people.

Most of America's 320+ million population do not reside in those cities.

Then, go and look at how many cities there are in America, and realize that large urban areas with high murder and crime rates are NOT
representational of the average American city.

The average American cities you speak about form major cosmopolitans due to close proximity...

Again: WHY do many major American cities (not only Chicago,) have such an alarmingly higher rate of murders and shootings per capita when
compared to other major cosmopolitan cities (hubs) of developed industrialized nations in the world?

Why do large urban areas in America have an extremely higher rate of violent crimes and murder per capita when compared to large urban areas
with similar population density of other first world countries?

In the link above, I will use Pittsburgh, PA, which came last on the list ranked at #30.

Pittsburgh has a population of 305,841. It's 'Violent Crime Rate Index' is 798/100 000 people. The total murders for 2015 were 71.

Now, I will use Toronto, which is Canada's largest city with a population of 6,055,724 and ranked the safest major city in N.America and eighth safest
major city in the world. It's 'Violent Crime Rate Index' is 907/100 000 people. The 'Homicide Rate' is 2.0/100 000 people. The total murders for 2015
were 55.

You're not comparing apples to apples, here, just as you're not when you compare our American culture to either that of non-first-world countries or
European nations.

So you did understand my initial comment after all...

Toronto's population has 5,749, 883 more people than Pittsburgh, yet has fewer murders and violent crime.

This pattern can be found when one compares ANY city in America to ANY city in another first world country.

In other words: Welcome To America: The Most Violent Country of First World Nations. Chicago represents what American society has become. The national
numbers don't lie...

Just because you've traveled here numerous times doesn't mean that you understand America or Americans. See, I'm not making my comment in regards to a
global perspective, I'm making my comment based on reality. That's what matters, not making false comparison because you've visited here a lot and are
looking at our country from the outside in--that barely gives you a foundation upon which to make your claims.

I'm not a tourist. I travel and live in many places (including the U.S) due to the nature of my business. I pay income and property taxes...

Disagree with me all that you want, but until you've lived in America for over 35 years in more than six different cities of varying sizes in three
different states in two vastly different regions of the country, don't preach to me about what the average American city is or is not just because
your global perspective skews your view average America.

Fair enough. I haven't even lived on this planet for 35 years yet.

As I stated in my initial comment: I understand where you are coming from based on my extensive travel and stay (months at times) within the U.S (over
40 States and 13 different cities over the past 4 years). In other words: I know most Americans are cool people.

Btw, that is just the last four years alone and those 13 cities cover a few States. Next year will be nine years in total I have been doing this.

I don't know America as well as you do, but I have good feel for things, and I know my way around...

I like America, don't get it twisted. I just can't understand how some Americans believe the States isn't a violent nation.

edit on 9-9-2016 by Involutionist because: Grammar and punctuation SUCKS!

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